Jack Dorsey Withdraws Support For Elon Musk As Twitter Boss

Twitter’s co-founder and former CEO on two separate occasions, Jack Dorsey, has changed his mind about Elon Musk.

Last weekend, Dorsey backtracked on his earlier endorsement of Elon Musk as the right choice to lead Twitter, and spoke out against the multi billionaire, who for the past six months has led Twitter through a series of largely self-inflicted own goals and crises.

Dorsey had stepped down from his second tenure as Twitter CEO back in November 2021 and eventually departed fully in March and April of 2022, just as Elon Musk made his first takeover offer for the microblogging platform.

Musk endorsement

Dorsey was asked last year if he thought that Elon Musk was the right person to take control of Twitter, with many worried that the world’s richest man would be in control of ‘free speech’ on the platform.

In April 2022 once Musk’s $44bn acquisition offer for Twitter had been confirmed, Dorsey endorsed Musk saying his solution was one he trusted, and that Musk’s goal was the “right one” and the platform was now on the “right path”.

But just before and then after Musk’s chaotic and controversial takeover of Twitter in late October 2022, Dorsey began to hint at some concerns.

In August 2022 Dorsey expressed his regret that the micro blogging platform became a corporate entity.

Then in December Dorsey admitted Twitter still had significant problems under Musk’s ownership.

Endorsement withdrawn

Now last Saturday, when Dorsey was asked on BlueSky (his Twitter clone that many are hoping will eventually rival Twitter) whether he believed Musk has been the best possible steward of Twitter, Dorsey said flatly: “No.”

According to CNN, Dorsey then added that Musk “should have walked away” from acquiring Twitter for $44 billion, and faulted Twitter’s board in hindsight for trying to compel Musk to follow through with the deal despite Musk’s attempts to back out of the purchase last year.

“It all went south,” Dorsey reportedly said. “But it happened and all we can do now is build something to avoid that ever happening again.”

Dorsey’s reflections, outlined in Bluesky posts reviewed by CNN, highlight the Twitter founder’s growing disillusionment with Musk.

They also come after numerous exchanges in recent months where Dorsey has publicly questioned some of Musk’s decision-making.

Asked whether he felt any responsibility for the role he played in the transaction, Dorsey reportedly said he was not the only person who authorised the deal and that Twitter’s “only alternative” to Musk was an acquisition by “hedge funds and Wall Street activists.”

“The company would have never survived as a public company,” Dorsey reportedly claimed, adding: “I wish it were different,” but that some of Twitter’s revenue initiatives prior to Musk’s takeover “would not have mattered given market turn.”

Elon Musk for his part has stated he will eventually step down as CEO of Twitter, after he lost a poll last December asking if he should remain as the Twitter boss.